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Episode81
Treading the Righteous Ratio We picked things up in block one with Oz and Kiwi in the Kovinus system retrieving his daughter. Well, Kiwi mostly binged on the finest selection of liquor in the galaxy but 'dont drink and Portal' isn't a thing, really. Joe and Pete worked on projects. It was in block two that shit really hit the fan when Mariana burst in and accused us of 'changing everything'. The Reavers unveiled their new super weapon which could envelope entire worlds in a transdimensional bubble that transported them to a place where the sky would literally rain Reavers. Nedril was the first to get hit, but we would soon found out it wouldn't be the last. In parallel, the Reavers were also massively stepping up their attacks. Around the rim of the entire galaxy battles were being desperately fought to withstand the new Reaver onslaught. Mariana's future-insight from the Halls of Orta had not shown her anything like this. The future had changed but why? Perhaps the defeat of Encilious did it? All of this activity presented a conundrum: Do we help with the defense of these worlds or do we stay focused on the bigger convergence end-game scenario? Oz raised the concept of the Righteous Ratio where we are still 'in the right' as long as our efforts are focused on maximizing the win/loss ratio. Under that thinking, it would be acceptable to ignore the smaller conflicts if it meant ultimately saving more lives however unpopular it might be, (Oz has by now developed a strongly pragmatic streak and now often finds himself proposing solutions that a younger Oz would never have considered). When the transdimensional bubble attack on Ilveria started we all gathered in the alliance command center to observe. The Reavers used a wave of 'snakes' to infiltrate the defenses. Somehow, the snakes then gained access to the Farenheim field generator and used it to create a transdimensional field. When this happened the entire world was cut-off and the Reaving began in earnest. The 'Garden Fortress World' of Ilveria was one of the most heavily defended planets in the galaxy so it didn't collapse immediately but without help it couldn't hold on for long. Even more concerning, though, was the new schedule of every four hours a new world being consumed. Where would the next attack strike? Yaw briefly dropped in (via inter-galactic telepathy) to gloat about our vulnerability and offer us a chance to join him by turning over the Star. We flatly refused so he left after threatening to make us pay. Note: this is the first time we remember him doing this even though he did once before in the Halls of Orta. With galactic events moving quickly the party then split up to tackle block 2 off-time. Joe, and Pete jumped into totally-non-selfish projects. Meanwhile, Kiwi used his omniscient vision to analyze the bubble and learned that it was actually transporting the worlds to the Reaver Proto-Galaxy and that entering was likely a one-way trip even if the field emitter was deactivated. Oz spent the block contacting just about everyone to enlist their aid against the new menace who agreed to help how they could * 01 offered to install Trans-D detectors if we could provide the plans (which Joe is doing in block 3) * Gaetta and Ophilius were shocked at the power demonstrated by such an attack but suggested we could learn more if we had samples or more direct observations (Pete is building a Trans-D telescope to help with this) * Uxia agreed to help collect samples if an Ekenwynne world was attacked * Zargax revealed that he felt he had been played by Yaw from the start. He had no idea he was this powerful when he was pretending to be a Shadow Reaver. Oz told him there was no shame since he had also been similarly fooled. * Mariana refused to open her door We were also contacted by the defenders of Ilveria's Tree Gate. They were still holding out despite the terrible situation and were asking for aid. We have a tough choice to make. One one hand, entering the bubble could save Ilveria or at the very least provide valuable information about the bubble (i.e. snake samples). However, on the other hand, it might be a one-way trip/trap that could damn the entire galaxy to doom if we do not return in time for the convergence. We ended the night shortly after the Reavers bubble-wrapped the Hubertus homeworld. What will our heroes do? Find out next week. Excerpt from the personal log of Ozbourne Wheeler: Nero has finally completed his metamorphosis! He's emerged from his cocoon completely transformed. The light metal treatments appear to have changed him into a creature of the light. He now resembles a glowing Leopard instead of a Necrite. When he first emerged he was just a kitten but has rapidly grown since then and will probably ultimately reach a similar stature to my old Ruin Tiger companion. The process is truly miraculous. What new abilities does he now possess? Can he assist with our efforts against the Reavers? Do I need to worry less about him eating someone's follower now? Still much to learn and so little time... Back to Space Junk Log 22 Generic 11 Academic for the logger